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I suggest that measurement in quantum theory should be regarded as a sense of time (of things *happening*), which is as important as the conventional relativistic notion of time. A key question -- of basic physical interest whether one accepts the arguments here or not -- is, What physical criteria determine when a measurement takes place? I suggest a way in which the answer to this may be bound up with the resolution of some pathologies associated with the stress-energy operator, and may at the same time determine the cosmic flow of time. The problem of reconciling the quantum sense of time (measurement) and the conventional relativistic one gives some indication that the the correct "quantization" of gravity is essentially different from that of other fields.

I like this idea. You might be interested in Julian Schwinger's version of QM devoted to measurements. Do a google search for "measurement algebra"+Schwinger and see what comes up.

Venerando wrote on Dec. 2, 2008 @ 22:53 GMT

I think that it is a great job. I not only agree with the exposed ideas, but also think they are well exposed, even for a low level degree in physics knowledge as mine. I’ve enjoyed this phrase:

“Is it really plausible that the Universe was in a gross macroscopic superposition of states until consciousness developed?”

:DDD

Good luck with your job and in the contest.

Dimi Chakalov wrote on Dec. 3, 2008 @ 03:37 GMT

Dear Adam,

You claim (p. 2) that "the main unanswered question in quantum theory is, When does a measurement occur?", and stressed (Sec. 5) that "a natural approach to understanding time in quantum theory is via its classically conjugate variable, energy." All this reminded me of the invisible cat, Macavity, which shows up only when no one is looking at it, just like the negative energy density in QFT (arXiv:gr-qc/9709047v2). Perhaps Macavity is always unobservable or gauge-dependent, and can be "located" only with a Gedankenexperiment from Wikipedia here.

I like your essay very much. The more I read it, the more I learn from you. Thank you.

Best regards -- Dimi

Dr. E (The Real McCoy) wrote on Dec. 3, 2008 @ 04:30 GMT

Hello Adam.

Nice paper! Love the focus on meausrement, for without meausrement, there is no time, nor physics!

You write, "A key question -- of basic physical interest whether one accepts the arguments here or not -- is, What physical criteria determine when a measurement takes place?"

Consider the irreversible collapse of the photon's wave funcation in an act of...

Nice paper! Love the focus on meausrement, for without meausrement, there is no time, nor physics!

You write, "A key question -- of basic physical interest whether one accepts the arguments here or not -- is, What physical criteria determine when a measurement takes place?"

Consider the irreversible collapse of the photon's wave funcation in an act of measurement.

As Einstein wrote x4=ict, implying dx4/dt=ic, photons are but mass surfing the fourth expanding dimension. Thus a photon appears as a spherically-symmetic wavefront of probability, as the fourth dimension's expansion distributes locality. When a photon is measured, or when it blackens a grain on a photographic plate, it is because it has left the fourth expanding dimension in encounerting matter, and hence the expanding probability wave collapsed.

So it is that both quantum mechanics and relativity describe an invariatiant *physical* reality that exists independent of us! And Moving Dimensions Theory proposes a new, more fundamental invariance underlying both relativity and quantum mechanics--an invariance that also accounts for entropy and time's arrows and assymetries in all realms: the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions or dx4/dt = ic. MDT represents that kind of tehory that we have not seen for awhile--a simple postulate and equation reflecting a fundamental invariance underlying all change--a new postulate and equation exalting a novel feature of this universe that has hitherto remained unsung, and suddenly time is unfrozen and we are liberated from the block universe! Relativity, QM, and entropy are given a common foundational framework, and time in all realms is shown to be an emergent phenomenon.

Consider the photon. Measurement of its position relies on the collapse of a wavefunction--the irreversible localization of the photon's momenergy. When a photon is emitted, it is carried along by the fourth expanding dimension, which defines a nonlocal spherically-symmetric probabilistic wavefront expanding at the rate of c through the three spatial dimensions. The expanding fourth dimension is responsible for nonlocality--it "smears" locality throughout all of space, and hence the photon is ageless--it remains in the exact same place in the fourth dimension, no matter how far it travels, as it surfs the fourth expanding dimension. And hence entanglement--two initially-interacting photons remain fundamentally connected no matter how far apart they travel, as they yet inhabit a common locality that resulst because of the nonlocal expansion of the fourth dimension. And hence a photon's ageless (from relativity) and entanglement (from qm) derive from a common principle, which also presents a *physical* model for measurement, entropy, and time and its arrows in all realms.

Consider the timeless, ageless photon.

Relativity tells us that the photon stays in the same place in the fourth dimension. Again--the proof:

Relativity tells us that the photon stays in the same place in the fourth dimension. Here's a proof:

a) the only velocity through our 4D space-time for all objects is c (stated by Brian Greene/Einstein)

b) if a photon, which is always measured to travel at c through the three spatial dimensions by all observers (a postulate of relativity), had any velocity component in the fourth dimension, then its velocity would be other than c through our 3D space.

c) ergo a photon can have no velocity component in the fourth dimension

d) ergo a photon's velocity through the fourth dimension is 0

Quantum Mechanics tells us that a photon's motion is described by a spherically-symmetric probabilistic wavefront expanding at c.

While staying in the same place in the fourth dimension, a photon is also manifested as a spherically-symmetric probabilistic wavefront expanding at c.

Ergo the fourth dimension is expanding at c, distributing locality as a spherically-symmetric wavefront.

Einstein already demonstrated that dimensions can bend, warp, amd move in General Relativity, and MDT extends this fundamental *physical* principle in a simple and natural manner--the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c, or dx4/dt=ic.

No other theory comes close to uniting entropy, entanglement, and relativity in a simple *physical* model, which celebrates a fundamental *physical* universal invariant, while providing a physical mechanism for time and all its arrows and assymetires across all realms.

Why does radiation manifest itself as expanding spherical wavefronts, but not as contracting ones? Because dx4/dt=ic--the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions.

"According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, mass and energy warp spacetime. The undulations then affect the trajectories of passing objects, producing the effects we call gravity. In Einstein's theory, spacetime is a stretchy, dynamical entity." --http://focus.aps.org/story/v14/st13

So it is that MDT is small extension of something we already knew! The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at c, in units of the Planck length!

You would enjoy my paper! Time as an Emergent Phenomenon: Traveling Back to the Heroic Age of Physics by Elliot McGucken

"In his 1912 Manuscript on Relativity, Einstein never stated that time is the fourth dimension, but rather he wrote x4 = ict. The fourth dimension is not time, but ict. Despite this, prominent physicists have oft equated time and the fourth dimension, leading to un-resolvable paradoxes and confusion regarding time’s physical nature, as physicists mistakenly projected properties of the three spatial dimensions onto a time dimension, resulting in curious concepts including frozen time and block universes in which the past and future are omni-present, thusly denying free will, while implying the possibility of time travel into the past, which visitors from the future have yet to verify. Beginning with the postulate that time is an emergent phenomenon resulting from a fourth dimension expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c, diverse phenomena from relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics are accounted for. Time dilation, the equivalence of mass and energy, nonlocality, wave-particle duality, and entropy are shown to arise from a common, deeper physical reality expressed with dx4/dt=ic. This postulate and equation, from which Einstein’s relativity is derived, presents a fundamental model accounting for the emergence of time, the constant velocity of light, the fact that the maximum velocity is c, and the fact that c is independent of the velocity of the source, as photons are but matter surfing a fourth expanding dimension. In general relativity, Einstein showed that the dimensions themselves could bend, curve, and move. The present theory extends this principle, postulating that the fourth dimension is moving independently of the three spatial dimensions, distributing locality and fathering time. This physical model underlies and accounts for time in quantum mechanics, relativity, and statistical mechanics, as well as entropy, the universe’s expansion, and time’s arrows."

Thanks for yor comments. I recall the Schwinger measurement algebrea as an attempt to formalize the ideas of probability and interference.

Venerando, Dimi and Dr. E.,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, Dimi, the ideas here are related to those I figuratively associated with Macavity.

Dimi Chakalov wrote on Dec. 11, 2008 @ 20:14 GMT

Adam:

Glad to learn that the ideas in your Essay are related to the "invisible" (gauge-dependent?) cat Macavity (arXiv:gr-qc/9709047v2).

Please check out the so-called Buridan donkey paradox. Perhaps Macavity facilitates all "negotiations" between the donkeys. As you conjectured in your Essay (p. 3), "perhaps time is not merely a parameter, but another sort of thing, in quantum theory."

To the best of my knowledge, you are the first person to propose a new sort of time-energy uncertainty relation (Sec. 5.3, p. 8). I hope you will be awarded 10xFirst Prize in this contest.

Best - Dimi

Dimi Chakalov wrote on Dec. 12, 2008 @ 15:58 GMT

P.S. I tried to vote for your Essay, but somehow the system didn't like it, and you still don't have any votes. Perhaps it will be a good idea if you elaborate more on your time-energy uncertainty relation (Sec. 5.3) and its implication to GR (Sec. 5.4), and then submit your research manuscript to PRL.